Dr Jessica Clapham MA, PhD, SFHEA, FRSA

I have worked in the field of Applied Linguistics for 28 years in Sudan, China, Singapore and Wales, focussing on EFL Theory, Refugee Education, Literacy Development and Teacher Education and Language Policy. I am a founder member of the LLAWEN Language Network and I have presented in numerous national and international conferences, research projects, staff exchange visits to Finland, Malta and the Basque Country and written and contributed to articles and books in the field.

I am the Programme Director for the Professional Doctorate in English Language Education and the MA TESOL at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, specialising in ELT and Second Language Acquisition.

Completed supervisions:

• PhD: Yue Zhang – Mandarin Chinese Education in Chinese schools in Cambodia March 2022
• Professional Doctorate (current supervision) :
• Hong Li: The Development of Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency in Bilingual Education.
• Huang Wang : A Study on the Early Cultivation of Intercultural Communication Competence (ICC) in Primary English Teaching.
• Tingting Wang: TBL Strategies for developing students’ textual understanding and critical thinking abilities in an English intensive reading class.
• Yi Wang: An Exploration of Blended Learning in Academic English for Postgraduates – A Case Study from China.
• Yuanfen Wang:  An Empirical Study of the Impact of Critical Teaching on Non-English Majors’ English Writing Proficiency.
• Lishu Zhao: Exploring the Construction of Authorial Identity in PhD Dissertation Abstracts submitted in UK and Chinese Universities.
• Jing Zheng:  Teaching Strategies to Improve Intercultural Competence of Business English Major Students in Jiangxi Province of China.
• Anan Zhou: Exploring Perceptions of the Intercultural Dimension in EFL Teaching Among Chinese University Teachers.
• Yingqiong Cui: Enquiry into Localised Classroom Discourse: A Case Study of Pre-service Chinese teachers of English in Junior Secondary English Classes. 
• Siyue Meng: A Corpus-based Study of Interactions in Academic Writing by EFL Postgraduate Students in the Discipline of Applied Linguistics: Diachronic and Paradigmatic Perspectives.
• Jiahui Xiao: Anxiety in consecutive interpretation：where it comes from and how it will affect the interpretation performance? (Academic Advisor)

MA:

• Developing Intercultural Education in Primary school in Wales.(successful completion)
• Creativity and Secondary Education: An exploration of teacher perceptions into creativity and critical thinking.
• The relationship among L1 Arabic University ESL learners’ Emotional Intelligence (EI), attribution patterns and their speaking ability.
• A study of teachers’ perceptions of Chinese students’ oral strategies when learning EFL. (successful completion)
• No Child Left Behind’s accountability testing and outcomes on reading proficiency in the US. (successful completion)
• An Examination of the Effect of Emotions on the English Proficiency of EFL Adult learners (successful completion)
• The Effectiveness of target groups for developing aspects of reading in Primary Schools in Wales (successful completion)
• A Case Study of Learning Strategies used by European and American Students (successful completion)
• Language Testing in the Chinese Context (successful completion)
• Communicative Language Teaching in TESOL Classes in China (successful completion)
• Learning Attitudes to ESDGC in Wales and Nepal (successful completion)
• EAL in Irish Primary schools (successful completion)
• Language planning in rural China (successful completion)
• Developing ESP Tuition for Chinese workers in Singapore (successful completion)
• Aspects of Intercultural Education in Singapore (successful completion)
• Language Learning and Anxiety (successful completion)
• The Potential Influence of Chinese on the Second Language Writing of Chinese Students Studying Abroad (successful completion)
• Chinese Students’ Reading Strategies in English (successful completion)

•  PGCert HE mentor and reviewer
•  EFL Theory and SLA
•  Introduction to Linguistics
•  Bilingualism/ Multilingualism Research
•  EdD Thesis Proposal: Research Methods
•  Key Issues in Linguistics
•  English Language Teacher Education
•  Second Language Acquisition
•  Intercultural Education
•  Research Methods
•  Language Awareness
•  TEFL/ESL/TESOL Teaching Methodology

My doctoral research focused on teachers’ use of Code-switching in bilingual classrooms in Wales, with a view to examining in what ways teachers are aware of the positive benefits of Code-switching and to raise awareness of the relationship between code choice, bilingual identity and wider social factors. I am particularly interested in how far teachers employ code-switching as a teaching strategy and how teachers’ identities undergo a process of transformation as a result of their experiences of the research process.

Other research interests include metalinguistic awareness (LLAWEN Mentoring Project) with Dr Lise Fontaine, language awareness, bilingual teaching methodology and Narrative Inquiry.

I am a founder member of LLAWEN research network and I have several years experience of working with minority ethnic achievement in Wales. I have experience as an external examiner for the MA programme in UHI, Outer Hebrides and St. Mark and St. John University, Plymouth and Reading University.

I have been a lecturer at UWTSD for two years and an Associate of Bangor School of Linguistics for eight years. I was instrumental in setting up the Wales-Jamaica Project and I have co-written articles for English in Education and Education Transactions, and I have also written a chapter on Bilingualism with Professor. Colin Baker. I regularly contribute reviews on educational matters and I am an associate member of the ESRC Centre for Bilingualism at Bangor University.

Selected Publications

• (2018) Writing and Empathy, Writing and Wellbeing Seminar, Irish Poetry Therapy conference, Gorey Wexford, Ireland.
• Clapham J.J. (2017) ‘Code-switching or not? – conventional wisdom and contemporary practice in Wales’, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Education. (In Press)
• Clapham J.J. (2016) Code-switching, Pedagogy and Transformation : Teachers’ Perceptions of the Dynamics of Code-switching and Bilingual Identity. Unpublished Doctoral Thesis, University of Exeter.
• Clapham J.J. (2012) Dadansoddiad o ddefnydd athrawon dan hyfforddiant o gyfnewid cod mewn dosbarth uwchradd dwyieithog: Achos o Gymru’ erthygl: Gwerddon, rhif 10/11 Gorffennaf 2012. An Analysis of Trainee Teachers’ Use of Code-switching in Bilingual Secondary Classrooms: A Case from Wales : www.gwerddon.org
• Clapham, J., (Feb 2011) An analysis of Trainee Teachers’ use of Code-switching in the Bilingual Secondary Classroom: a case from Wales, In : Educational Futures. 3, 1, p. 20-38.
• Clapham J.J. (2010) ‘Attitudes to Code-switching in Wales.’ Paper presented at the BESA Annual Conference, Bangor University. Published in Education Futures Journal.
• BENNELL, S., CLAPHAM, J., EGLEY, S., HUGHES, C., NORCLIFFE, D., & SULLIVAN, D. “Welsh and European Dimensions of Citizenship: the experience of Polish migrants’ children in Wales” in Welsh Journal of Education, 2009, 14(2), pp.131–36.
• Clapham, J & Bennell, S.,(2006) Slaves to Slate CDRom, Wales Jamaica Project, NGFL Cymru
•  (2001) “ The Nature and Needs of Bilingual Pupils” co-authored chapter with Baker, C in Roberts H.G.Ff. and Williams C, Llyfrau Addysg Cymreig 2. University of Wales Press, Bangor.